


degrees of affection

by llien



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Affection, Declarations Of Love, Drabble Sequence, M/M, POV Multiple, Post-Canon, Schmoop, but not the verbal kind, kind of a 5 times fic but not quite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:28:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26487190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/llien/pseuds/llien
Summary: Riku took ages to warm up to the others, always stuck in his head and his beliefs that everyone was prejudiced against him, and he could not shake the bone-deep habit of doing everything on his own.But, then Sora walked into the room.The change was instantaneous, embarrassingly so. Riku relaxed, voice going warm, lips going crooked with a smile that turned into a prideful smirk, and Sora’s easygoing demeanor paved the way for Riku to crack jokes that were actually funny to everyone outside of Sora.Around Sora, Riku thawed.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 152





	degrees of affection

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted Sora to cut fruit for Riku, that's it. Written quickly, so don't look too closely
> 
>  _"All right, close your eyes. What do you see?"_  
>  _"Nothing."_  
>  _"Rub them -- Can you see the stars?"_  
>  _"Yes."_  
>  — The Fall (2006)

Riku was frowning. He generally was, matter of fact, even if Sora thought they were all lying through their teeth.

Riku had a stern expression, brows furrowed and lips set  _ just so  _ in a manner that seemed judgmental — which according to Roxas, totally was. He either kept a hand on a cocked hip as he looked down his straight nose, or crossed his arms to express just how unimpressed he was with you. Roxas swore up and down and across that if Riku gave him that look one more damn time he wouldn’t be held responsible for his actions. 

Riku spoke evenly, with a dry hint of humor that bordered on sarcastic and bitchy, but he was quick-witted and clever, and no one could deny he brought the most to the table aside from Aqua. Riku was strong, and he did make efforts to be a team player.

So it wasn’t entirely his fault he had a shitty personality. 

He took ages to warm up to the others, always stuck in his head and his beliefs that everyone was prejudiced against him, and he could not shake the bone-deep habit of doing everything on his own. 

But, then Sora walked into the room.

The change was instantaneous, embarrassingly so. Riku relaxed, voice going warm, lips going crooked with a smile that turned into a prideful smirk, and Sora’s easygoing demeanor paved the way for Riku to crack jokes that were actually funny to everyone outside of Sora. 

Around Sora, Riku thawed, and once you wiggled into that scant space he accidentally allowed in Sora’s presence, he’d grow comfortable with you, too. Not that Roxas particularly wanted to be comfortable in any capacity with Riku, but he was a little awed. 

No one was a stranger to the sway Sora had over them, but none of them were as affected as Riku. Sora only had to exist near him, and it was like watching the plaintive honesty of a child with no concept of shame to hide unmitigated fondness. He literally lit up, glowed, became less of a shadow of himself.

All the rough edges were still there, but they could see the soft spots, too, and how couldn’t you be endeared to someone as honest as Riku was?

Roxas still didn’t have to like it, though.

/

The meeting was long since over. They’d all filed out one by one, Riku waving their concerns away nonchalantly as he brooded over paperwork. Another unsolved mystery requiring a trip across space, and the odds were in Roxas’ and Sora’s favor. It was a sprawling world with not a loud of ground, so they’d need people who could confidently navigate the skies. 

Of course, Riku thought, gliding his fingertip of the neat ink print of  _ Sora,  _ the jack of all trades could go pretty much anywhere and thrive. Geez. 

“What’re you smiling at?”

Startling, Riku shoved at the paper and glanced over to the door. Sora had the door propped open with a hip, hands carrying a plate of things Riku couldn’t quite make out at this angle. He was in his usual tank, barefoot in a way that was familiar to the islanders who were used to dirt underfoot but scandalous to the trio originally living in the castle. Of course the castle was kept spotlessly clean by magic, but it was the  _ principle  _ that mattered according to Terra. 

“I wasn’t smiling,” Riku retorted, a lame comeback but he’d been distracted by the sight of collarbones and wind-tousled brown hair. 

“Right,” Sora drawled, rolling in his eyes and walking closer. He dropped a kiss on Riku’s temple, over his hair, and deposited a tray of fruit for him. “Here, I know you skipped lunch.”

Riku laughed sheepishly, stretching up in his chair to peck Sora on the cheek, feeling warm. It was a platter of fruit straight from the islands, as if Sora had somehow known Riku was feeling just a little homesick. Sweet neatly sliced fruit, red and orange and green and yellow, brightened the entire room somehow. 

Sora plopped a bit into his mouth and grinned.

/

Sora ran full steam straight into his slightly ajar bedroom door, shoulder taking the brunt of impact. “Riku!” Sora gasped, skidding to a halt when he found his best friend standing beside Sora’s bed, hands filled with laundry.

Sora’s gaze skipped over the piles being neatly folded, zero-ing in on the bandages wrapped around Riku’s arm. “Again?” Sora demanded.

Riku had the decency to look sheepish. He finished folding a shirt, gingerly laying it in a pile. By the looks of it, he was nearly finished. “I swear it’s just a scrape,” Riku began, holding his hands up defensively as Sora stormed closer.

“Not according to Terra!” Sora said, but the gentle way he touched Riku was at odds with his voice. Feather-light, Sora grazed over the uneven edges of the wrapping. “One day I’ll die from a heart attack,” Sora announced gravely. Riku had the audacity to laugh.

“I think that’s my line, actually,” Riku said, grinning even when Sora shot him a heatless glare. 

“What did I say?” Sora demanded.

Riku cast his eyes to the ceiling, as if it were particularly fascinating. Sora knew for a fact the molding and skylights were not as enthralling as Riku was pretending they were. Sora grabbed Riku by the elbow, thumb pressing into the small dip of the inside, and gave him a firm shake.

“Riku,” Sora warned, and Riku’s gaze dipped down to meet his, green and bright,  _ enjoying  _ this despite being the one wounded. It made Sora’s heart squeeze in an awful way. 

“No reckless stunts,” Riku finally said, lips curling around the words, not quite mocking but obviously having fun, and Sora frowned. The skylight was showering an unfair amount of sunlight on Riku’s bright hair, haloing stray strands, and when Sora looked down he realized it was  _ Sora’s  _ clothes Riku was diligently folding. 

He carefully slid his hand down Riku’s forearm, tangled their fingers together, and pressed a chaste kiss to Riku’s knuckles as he cast another healing spell. 

“At least, not without me,” Sora pouted, and he could feel Riku’s full body laugh when he wrapped him into a warm hug. 

/

Riku rolled his neck as he walked down the night-darkened hall of the castle. It was late enough that everyone was asleep, and Riku was looking forward to a warm bed and a few hours of rest before reporting in the morning. The mission had been run of the mill, if a little taxing, and even though there’d been no complications and Riku had been more than capable of running it solo, he still wished Sora could’ve accompanied him.

Nightly gummiphone calls never could replace the flesh and blood feeling of Sora being right beside him. 

Still, it was late enough to be  _ early _ . Sora was probably asleep as he should be, and Riku resigned himself til having to wait until morning for that welcoming smile. His mind was cluttered with mission details, half tempted to stay up to write the report he was mentally halfway through anyways, so he didn’t notice the faint glimmer of light underneath their bedroom door until he’d opened it, blinking in shock.

A fully formed pillow fort was haphazardly strung up between their completely stripped beds, warm light glowing through the sheets and the tell-tale spiky shadow of a certain someone. Nameless warmth rushed through Riku then, butterflies fluttering in his stomach and his anxieties eased away. 

Of course Sora made a pillow fort to wait for him. 

Riku shucked his boots and jacket and peeked through the edge of the fort. Sora was  _ barely  _ awake, obviously fighting sleep as he tinkered with one of his minigames, yawning with a glimpse of pink tongue. He wore rabbit-patterned pajama bottoms and one of Riku’s crop tops that fit on Sora like a regular shirt, and Riku thought he might’ve fallen in love all over again.

The tent was held up with floating objects likely bespelled or charmed by Sora into helping out, and on the floor in front of Sora were two mugs, only one still full of hot chocolate with a bag of marshmallows waiting nearby just for Riku. An entire wing of the palace’s pillows had to be in there, Riku thought. Not an inch of floor was exposed, and the cups balanced precariously on a gingham pillow. There was a plate with two forks that was empty save crumbs, to Riku’s immense amusement. Staying up late, Sora could do, but  _ not  _ eat Riku’s portion of a dessert? No can do.

“Really, Sora?” Riku said in that way only Sora could pull out of him.

Startled, Sora jolted awake, and  _ there  _ was that beaming smile.

“Riku!” 

And it sounded like  _ welcome home. _

**Author's Note:**

> ya know sometimes I really just go head over heels with displays of affection that're unasked for, unannounced, just there. that you love someone so much you think of doing the tiniest things for them, because you want them to be happy, to be content, to be alright. that you think of them in the moments when they're not there, that you uplift them even without meaning to. 
> 
> anyways this was just a few drabbles meant to show that, I'm sorry theyre not more fleshed out;;
> 
> also also, please watch the fall, it's one of my favorite movies


End file.
